A Greek war correspondent travels across the globe to cover the first armed clash of the Cold War. But instead of trailing the battlefield feats of his countrymen in the Korean War (1950-53), he ends up writing a book on Ethiopian warriors ― yes, warriors, like the stuff of ancient Greek myths.
It’s not hard to see why the soldiers of Ethiopia, one of the 21 U.N. member nations to send troops into the inter-Korean conflict, struck the fancy of the journalist: The Kagnew Battalion, bound by the motto “one for all and all for one” to “fight until we win or die,” won all 235 of its battles against North Korean forces.
And true to their motto, there were 124 deaths and 536 injuries but not a single one of the 6,037 warriors went missing or became a prisoner of war. They literally either died or survived to a victorious end, Kimon Skordiles observes in his book.
“Kagnew: The Story of Ethiopian Fighters in Korea,” published in 1954 shortly after the armistice was signed, is now finally available in Korean (Today’s Books: 319 pp., 15,000 won) on the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War.
It sheds light upon an overlooked past but moreover, like most invaluable history lessons, serves as a window to the future. Most South Koreans today however are oblivious of such a sacrifice and the fact that the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the governmental aid relief organization, is making waves in Ethiopia ― lending help to the country that once was giving aid.
Though the book chronicles extraordinary battles, a most touching instance of heroism and friendship shines through in a rather minor incident. One fateful morning, the enemy opened fire at South Korean civilians who were employed to lay wires. Melese Berihun of the 1st company heard the cries of a man who did not have time to escape and jumped to the rescue ― “The Ethiopian soldier did not understand what the wounded Korean was saying; but the painful cries were directed not only to the ears, but to the heart.”
[David In-yeup Song, who translated into Korean a Greek war correspondent’s 1954 account of Ethiopian soldiers’ contributions during the Korean War (1950-53), speaks to The Korea Times during a recent interview in Seoul. Song wishes the younger generation to be inspired by the great courage and integrity of the Kagnew Battalion. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul]
A shell fell nearby and the two men died in each other’s arms. They were buried in a common grave in Busan ― which serves as “a symbol of their common sacrifice, in a common struggle, for a common goal,” writes Skordiles. “The mixed blood is the foundation of friendship and a symbol of unity between Ethiopian and Korean. It is the fire of comradeship that came alive in the dark days of the Korean War, the friendship that will remain in perpetuation in the history through the joining of the hands of the two countries.”
David In-yeup Song, who served as chief representative of KOICA in Ethiopia for two years, took the initiative to translate the account. “I came across the book a couple months after I arrived in Ethiopia. I knew Ethiopia had sent troops but I was surprised to learn about their amazing achievements,” he said in a recent Korea Times interview in Seoul. He was in town for a few days before assuming a new post in earthquake-struck Haiti.
“I spent sleepless nights reading the book. I decided to translate it because it passes on an important lesson to the younger generation. They enjoy a materially rich life thanks to the sacrifice of such warriors like the Ethiopians, but many don’t even know when the Korean War broke out. Moreover, they can learn about integrity, teamwork and courage from the Kagnew Batallion,” he said.
The book introduces how Ethiopia became involved in the Korean War, and invites readers to explore the colorful history and character of the country.
For then-Emperor Haile Selassie the Korean War was a “holy” mission for world peace and collective security, to stop the further spread of ideological conflict. He thus dispatched members of the elite royal guard, the most physically adept and intelligent soldiers. Their perfect battle score did not go unnoticed, as then-U.S. Secretary of State J. F. Dulles paid the battalion a visit during a trip to Korea in 1953.
The Korean version of “Kagnew” however is more than a simple translation. Song places Skordiles’ work in a more contemporary context by tracing the legacy of the Ethiopian warriors, through interviews with some of the 400 veterans who are alive today. Various facts, figures and anecdotes are provided in both Korean and English.
Among them, Haile Giorgis, who served as 2nd lieutenant during the war, became promoted as military protocol chief to the emperor in 1972. Quite ironically, however, the emperor was overthrown in a communist coup, and during a spell of red terror through the 1980s, the Korean War veterans, once honored heroes, were forced to conceal the fact that they had fought against communist forces. Giorgis lived a reclusive life until the early 1990s.
Last month, some 40 members of the Korean War Veterans Association of Ethiopia recently visited Seoul to witness what had become of the impoverished country they fought in as young men.
“Ethiopians take note of Korea’s rapid economic development as a model for their country’s own growth, and the local press widely covers KOICA’s efforts. Korea on the other hand must not forget Ethiopia’s help in the past. There is much room for friendship to bloom anew,” he said.
Today KOICA is helping build schools, drinking water facilities and welfare centers for women and children. Song urged Koreans to take more interest in Ethiopia’s gourmet coffee and take note of the country’s rich history and the fact that it is home to the capital of the African Union.
This is Song’s second translation project after introducing Koreans to Jean Sasson’s “Love in a Torn Land,” which chronicles a true story set in war-torn Iraq.
Prof. Chojnacki was a teacher and friend to a generation of Ethiopians
Stanislaw Chojnacki was a librarian, professor, historian and horiculturalist, but his friends will remember him as the kindest and gentlest person they have known.
“He never tolerated anything, he always celebrated what nature gave and that’s the lesson that I learned and that I will take with me to my grave,” said close friend Meron Yeshoa.
Chojnacki passed away peacefully on the weekend at Sudbury Regional Hospital at the age of 95. St. Casimir’s Church will hold a Funeral Mass on Saturday at 10 a.m. He will be buried in Poland. Many friends and family members survive him, including wife Grace and sister Zofia Pratkowska.
The former professor and library director at the University of Sudbury accomplished much in his 95 years and his efforts have not gone unnoticed. After spending more than 25 years in Ethiopia, he was recognized as an active member of the Polish and Ethiopian communities in Sudbury.
Born in Riga, Latvia Oct. on 21, 1915, he obtained a law degree at Warsaw University before serving in the Polish Army in 1937 and 1938. According to Chojnacki’s book, 25 years of service at the university college and the Institute of Ethiopian Studies in Addis Ababa from 1950 to 1975, the series of events that led him to Ethiopia began during the Second World War.
On Sept. 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland. “My nine days of warfare was followed by close to five years as a prisoner of war in Germany,” wrote Chojnacki.
Once released, he worked four years in Rome before relocating to Canada in January 1950. In September 1950, Dr. Lucien Matte offered Chojnacki the position of Librarian at the University College of Addis Ababa, which Dr. Matte had recently founded. Chojnacki humorously recalled asking where in Canada Addis Ababa was located.
Not long afterward he discovered that the school was in Ethiopia and soon enough he moved overseas once again.
The University College was Ethiopia’s first attempt to establish a university in the country. It was inaugurated by the emperor in 1951.
Chojnacki fell in love with his work and the people of Ethiopia and founded the University College Museum of Addis Ababa in 1963. The librarian was a close friend of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie.
After 25 years in Ethiopia, Chojnacki decided to leave. He had lost many friends after the overthrow of the Ethiopian Dynasty in 1974, including the Emperor. He returned to Canada in 1976.
However, Chojnacki never forgot the people of Ethiopia.
Yeshoa recalled a touching memory of him. “I remember the first time I asked him if he had any children, he ran to his bedroom and he said, ‘Yes, of course. I have pictures to show you.’ He brought me an album and in [it] he was showing me pictures of very young and very very poor children in the poorest parts of Ethiopia.”
Chojnacki knew all the children by first and last name and would say, “This is my son so and so, this is my daughter,” said Yeshoa.
His love for plants, animals, insects and all people, regardless of colour, race or wealth made Chojnacki an inspiring person, said Yeshoa.
“What really touched me about him is the fact that he didn’t want to put [the children] out of their life. He went into their life. Almost every year he went back and he actually gave them love and support,” she added.
Yeshoa, who is from Ethiopia, met Chojnacki when a roommate, also from Ethiopia, was in search of a cultural community here. The roommate’s parents found one Ethiopian family, but they were leaving, so they put her in touch with Mr. Chojnacki. “He [was] just like an Ethiopian person,” said Yeshoa.
The professor was her roommate’s connection to Ethiopian roots and soon became an important part of Yeshoa and later her husband’s life.
“He was like a father to me,” said her husband, Gouled Hassan. Chojnacki’s kind heart and inspiring work touched Hassan deeply.
Another close friend, Andrzej H. Mrozewski, also had warm thoughts to share. Mrozewski was Chief Librarian at Laurentian University when Chojnacki became Library Director at the University of Sudbury.
The two shared an interest in fine arts and Chojnacki often worked in the garden with Mrozewski’s wife, Janina.
Mrozewski will remember him as a world-renowned specialist in Ethiopian art and doer of charitable work, for which he was named Knight of the Order of Malta.
Chojnacki’s academic works include Ethiopian Crosses: A Cultural History and Chronology, Ethiopian Icon: Catalogue of the Collection of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies Studies Addis Ababa University and Major Themes in Ethiopian Painting: Indigenous Developments, the Influence of Foreign Models and Their Adaptation.
Ethiomedia.com editor Abraha Belai and EthiopianReview.om editor Elias Kifle will be guests in Paltalk’s Qale Room to debate current Ethiopian political issues: Saturday, July 10, starting at 2 PM New York Time.
Close to 500 people, who claim to have been deceived by Askallucan Trading Plc were seen gathered outside the headquarters of the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency (ERTA) located at Churchill Avenue on June 24, 2010.
Yidenekachew Abebe, 28, was a farmer in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples (SNNP) Regional State town of Hosanna, until recently, when he sold his farmland and came to Addis Abeba. Here he paid almost 37,600 Br to Askallucan Trading Plc which was promoting a package for people to go watch the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. However, he was denied an entry visa to South Africa and the dream that brought him out of his village to the city remained just that – a dream.
Yidenekachew joined hundreds of people who had met a similar fate, sitting outside Askallucan Trading’s office in Arat Kilo, near Ginfele Bridge on Elizabeth II Street on Tuesday, June 29.
Unfazed by the cold and cloudy weather, the mob went looking for Girmay G. Michael, vice general manager of Askallucan Trading – who had guaranteed them visas to South Africa. Now they are demanding their money back.
Askallucan Trading ran a massive promotional campaign wherein the company claimed to possess 10,000 guaranteed visas to South Africa. It offered people a package that included a ticket for the match of their choice, a roundtrip airplane ticket, and a five-day hotel stay with meals included, all for 37,580.65 Br.
Yidenekachew is one of the almost 1,200 people who signed up and paid Askallucan Trading. He deposited 34,000 Br into an account in Wegagen Bank, opened under Hospitality Package Plus Ethiopia, as per the instructions he received, and paid another 3,580 Br in cash to Girmay, which he claims to have not received a receipt for. He signed up to watch the match between Germany and England on June 27.
Some of the other people who signed up thought that the receipt which they received upon depositing the money at Wegagen Bank was an actual World Cup ticket.
However, the bank provided Hospitality Package Plus Ethiopia with the same services it gives all customers and merely deposited the cash it received from people into the account, sources at Wegagen Bank told Fortune.
The bank’s president was unavailable for comment.
Although Yidenekachew signed up to watch a game, his real purpose for going to South Africa was to immigrate in search of a better life, he said.
Many of the people that Fortune talked to who had “bought the package” had similar plans. Some had a family member that they wanted to join in South Africa or had heard of better opportunities there and wanted to immigrate under the guise of the World Cup.
All, but a few of the people who had paid for the package that guaranteed a visa, were denied visas at the South African Embassy. The South African Embassy declined to comment.
All Yidenekachew’s money is now finished, and he cannot even afford to return to his hometown, he said.
“I have nothing left; I have been begging from people to feed myself,” he said. “I am spending nights on the streets and most of my days searching for answers from concerned government authorities.”
The sacrifices that he made and the anger he feels are the driving forces behind his wandering around to find answers and get back what he claims is his.
Askallucan Trading Plc was established in 2006 with a capital of 50,000 Br, which has now grown to 100,000 Br, according to the company website.
Aside from offering individuals packages for the World Cup, Askallucan Trading also partnered with Haleta Advertising Media Plc and Afrodan Plc to put on an exhibition for businesses from June 29 to July 3, in Johannesburg, South Africa. However, the exhibition was cancelled because participants could not get visas, an employee at Haleta Advertising Media told Fortune.
The idea to hold an exhibition to promote Ethiopia’s image in South Africa during the World Cup, first came from Century Promotion Services, claims Zewge Jemaneh, managing director of the company. Their whole endeavour was discontinued because Askallucan’s claim to have visas confused clients, and some of the people who showed an interest had clear intentions of immigrating, said Zewge.
“We did not want to take the risk of bringing those exhibitors whose intention was to stay in South Africa once the exhibition was over,” Zewge said.
He spent 100,000 Br in four months on promotion work before deciding to abandon the exhibition, he claimed.
Girmay allegedly collected close to 44 million Br, from almost 1,200 people, deposited into his bank account and given in person. Despite the affronted people’s relentless search to locate Girmay and demand their money back, they have not been able to find him.
They have knocked on the doors of various government institutions; they have been to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), and the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency (ETRA).
The search for Girmay having proven futile, they instead located Menna Terefe, Girmay’s wife and general manager of Askallucan, who gave birth a week ago. She is currently in police custody and her involvement is being investigated.
The police conducting the investigation refused to comment, claiming that it may hamper the investigation.
Yohannes Awano, 57, an employee at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD), is another victim of Girmay and his company. He came from SNNP Regional State and paid Askallucan Trading the same amount of money as Yidenekachew.
However, he also could not get his visa in time for the game that he paid for and was told that he would be provided with a ticket for another game, he alleged. This failed to materialise, he claimed.
Yohannes blames the media who gave the whole event high visibility and, to a certain extent, legitimacy.
“We were misled by the media itself,” he said. “I saw the advertisement in many newspapers, and the promoters were also in my village advertising. I was convinced when I read about it in newspapers, heard about it on Radio Fana, and watched it on Ethiopian Television.”
Girmay and his colleagues showed them original documents indicating that they had support from different government institutions, Yohannes alleged.
Yohannes admitted that he would have used this opportunity to visit his daughter who lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, and to get a medical check-up along the way. Now that his plan has failed, Yohannes plans to use every available avenue to get his money back.
“I will fight to my last breath to get my money; I will not give up at all,” he said, pounding his leg with an angry fist.
A similar situation occurred eight years ago when Habesha Trading organised the 2002 Ethio Trade and Cultural Fair to be held in the US.
A similar tale unfolded as the trade fair was cancelled due to individuals posing as businesspeople who tried to use it as a way to immigrate to the US. The organisers cancelled the event and returned the money to some of the companies who had registered, while some never got their money back.
“The situation with Askallucan Trading Plc is not new; history is repeating itself,” said an exhibition consultant who requested annonimity.
The same thing happened during the Sydney Olympic Games in Australia in the year 2000, and also when Habesha Trading tried to hold a trade fair in the US.
“I wonder why people are not willing to learn from past mistakes,” said the same consultant who has worked with exhibitions for the last 15 years. People do not quit their jobs and sell businesses that afforded them their daily bread just to watch a football match, he explained.
The idea of promoting an occasion like this and holding an event to promote Ethiopia’s image is a noble cause, opines the consultant, but it does not work here. Most people have a hidden agenda, which is often to stay in the country where they travel, he said.
The South African Embassy denied the visas because it was suspicious about some of the individuals who had applied for visas. And because some even admitted that the real reason they wanted to go to South Africa was not for the games but to find work in the country, complained Beniyam Mola, who was also denied an entry visa.
Some still believe that they will make it to the World Cup and are even willing to pay additional money if it gets them to South Africa. Others have given up on the idea and even on the possibility of getting their money back.
Being large in number, the claims coming out of different groups among these people differ and are sometimes hard to verify. What is common is that they all carry a receipt, faded from too much handling, for the money they deposited in the bank as a payment for Girmay, who is yet to be found.
In line with Egypt’s policy of increasing investments in Ethiopia, a number of Egyptian businessmen have recently established a consulting firm in Ethiopia, said Mohamed Shaker el-Marqabi, member of the Egyptian-Ethiopian Business Council and head of the Export Council for Construction.
El-Marqabi told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Egypt faces danger not in the form of Israel’s presence in Ethiopia, which is limited, but rather from China, which is funding major projects in Ethiopia and other parts of Africa. Chinese investors are currently sponsoring a big dam in Ethiopia–Juba 3–which, when completed, will be the biggest hydroelectric station in Africa.
El-Marqabi also said Egypt should not be so concerned about dams on the Nile River, as many assume, as the real danger lies in attempts by central African states to change the Nile’s flow. According to el-Marqabi, hydropower projects shouldn’t concern Egypt because they will not affect water distribution quotas.
“The Egyptian government should think seriously of going into partnership with Ethiopia in this field by studying a project on electricity linkage, to exchange electricity during rush hours,” el-Marqabi said.
“Ethiopia can generate 11,000 megawatts of electricity from hydroelectric stations and only 200 megawatt are used so far,” he added, referring to Ethiopia’s plans to sell its extra electricity to neighboring countries.
“Egyptian companies have great investment opportunities in the field of distributing and transferring electricity,” el-Marqabi said. “Egyptians should prove their good faith in cooperation with Ethiopia over the long term.”
The export council chief also said Egypt should deal with Ethiopians as people of “intelligent brains,” noting that “most of them have received their education at western universities.”
“The main reason for a successful relationship between Egypt and Ethiopia is to have common interests,” he added.
(Translated from the Arabic Edition of ALMASRYALYOUM)
A Greek war correspondent travels across the globe to cover the first armed clash of the Cold War. But instead of trailing the battlefield feats of his countrymen in the Korean War (1950-53), he ends up writing a book on Ethiopian warriors ― yes, warriors, like the stuff of ancient Greek myths.
[David In-yeup Song, who translated into Korean a Greek war correspondent’s 1954 account of Ethiopian soldiers’ contributions during the Korean War (1950-53), speaks to The Korea Times during a recent interview in Seoul. Song wishes the younger generation to be inspired by the great courage and integrity of the Kagnew Battalion. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul]
Among them, Haile Giorgis, who served as 2nd lieutenant during the war, became promoted as military protocol chief to the emperor in 1972. Quite ironically, however, the emperor was overthrown in a communist coup, and during a spell of red terror through the 1980s, the Korean War veterans, once honored heroes, were forced to conceal the fact that they had fought against communist forces. Giorgis lived a reclusive life until the early 1990s.